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Substance Abuse
difficult child won't go to school
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<blockquote data-quote="jamrobmic" data-source="post: 93620" data-attributes="member: 1412"><p>My son is bipolar, and we had the school issues with him as well. In this state, they can drop out at 16, but only with parental permission. They have to be 18 to drop out on their own. We put him in the juvenile system at 15 (for truancy), and then he put himself there a few months after getting off probation for truancy (for theft). Nothing really changed his behavior until he was correctly diagnosed and put on medication that worked for him. At that point, he did very well-he became someone we actually liked. He was pleasant, he stopped raging, managed to get his GED, got a part time job, and was going to technical school. He ended up dropping out of technical school when he had trouble passing one class, even though he still had a passing GPA. He didn't tell anyone he was having trouble, he just stopped going to school. </p><p></p><p>When he turned 18 and moved into his own apartment, his behavior got ugly again. He stopped taking his medication, ended up moving back in with us, and has been a PITA ever since. He didn't work for six months, and since then has started and quit several jobs. We found out that he got into an argument with a customer at one job, got reprimanded, and quit because he got "yelled at." He has been at his latest job for about six weeks, and we thought he was finally beginning to find his way, but he hasn't gone to work for the past two nights, so we think he either quit or got fired. He tells me to trust him and not worry about it. Right. He has punched holes in the doors of his bedroom (says we had planned to replace them anyway, which was true, but we hadn't planned to replace them now). husband had to call the police a few months ago because difficult child was throwing things because he got mad at husband.</p><p></p><p>The point to all of this is that people with bipolar can function very well with the right supports and the right medication. But they have to learn to accept that there is something wrong, and they do have limitations. For example, if our son doesn't get enough sleep, he's impossible to deal with. Yet he will stay up for a couple of days at a time because he has things to do. I think one of the hardest issues for us has been convincing our son that there is something wrong with him and that he does need medication. He refuses to believe there's anything wrong, and he thinks medication is a tool we use to try to control him. He asked me why he should take medicine so we can stand to be around him. He honestly doesn't think it helps him function better, even though everyone around him could see the difference. </p><p></p><p>I hope this helps and isn't too depressing. We haven't given up on our son, even though right now it doesn't look like he has much of a future. There's always hope. Your son might be more willing to accept his diagnosis than ours has been. If so, there's no reason he can't lead a pretty normal life.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="jamrobmic, post: 93620, member: 1412"] My son is bipolar, and we had the school issues with him as well. In this state, they can drop out at 16, but only with parental permission. They have to be 18 to drop out on their own. We put him in the juvenile system at 15 (for truancy), and then he put himself there a few months after getting off probation for truancy (for theft). Nothing really changed his behavior until he was correctly diagnosed and put on medication that worked for him. At that point, he did very well-he became someone we actually liked. He was pleasant, he stopped raging, managed to get his GED, got a part time job, and was going to technical school. He ended up dropping out of technical school when he had trouble passing one class, even though he still had a passing GPA. He didn't tell anyone he was having trouble, he just stopped going to school. When he turned 18 and moved into his own apartment, his behavior got ugly again. He stopped taking his medication, ended up moving back in with us, and has been a PITA ever since. He didn't work for six months, and since then has started and quit several jobs. We found out that he got into an argument with a customer at one job, got reprimanded, and quit because he got "yelled at." He has been at his latest job for about six weeks, and we thought he was finally beginning to find his way, but he hasn't gone to work for the past two nights, so we think he either quit or got fired. He tells me to trust him and not worry about it. Right. He has punched holes in the doors of his bedroom (says we had planned to replace them anyway, which was true, but we hadn't planned to replace them now). husband had to call the police a few months ago because difficult child was throwing things because he got mad at husband. The point to all of this is that people with bipolar can function very well with the right supports and the right medication. But they have to learn to accept that there is something wrong, and they do have limitations. For example, if our son doesn't get enough sleep, he's impossible to deal with. Yet he will stay up for a couple of days at a time because he has things to do. I think one of the hardest issues for us has been convincing our son that there is something wrong with him and that he does need medication. He refuses to believe there's anything wrong, and he thinks medication is a tool we use to try to control him. He asked me why he should take medicine so we can stand to be around him. He honestly doesn't think it helps him function better, even though everyone around him could see the difference. I hope this helps and isn't too depressing. We haven't given up on our son, even though right now it doesn't look like he has much of a future. There's always hope. Your son might be more willing to accept his diagnosis than ours has been. If so, there's no reason he can't lead a pretty normal life. [/QUOTE]
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